The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday that southern Syria witnessed its highest level of Israeli escalation in months, as Israeli occupation forces carried out 40 separate incursions across the provinces of Quneitra and Daraa throughout October.

According to the observatory, the operations included entry into villages and towns, the establishment of temporary checkpoints, searches, raids, and land bulldozing, in addition to opening new roads and planting mines along the frontier areas.

The report added that these ground movements were accompanied by intense aerial activity involving warplanes and drones, alongside a sustained state of alert along the occupied Syrian Golan border.

8 arrests amid efforts to reshape southern front

The observatory noted that the Israeli actions resulted in the arrest of eight individuals, including a university student who was later released. The incursions, it said, appear to be part of a broader Israeli effort to impose new security and military realities in the buffer zone as part of a plan referred to as “Project Sofa 53.”

According to the report, the project spans from the areas of Umm al-Azam and al-Qahtaniyah to the slopes of Mount Hermon, signaling a strategic expansion of Israeli military activity in the region.

The month of October marked the sharpest and most frequent series of Israeli incursions in southern Syria in recent months, reflecting a noticeable escalation of Israeli operations beyond aerial strikes into ground-based maneuvers inside Syrian territory.

New incursion in Quneitra

Local sources in Quneitra reported on Saturday that an Israeli occupation military unit carried out a ground incursion into the village of al-Samdaniyah al-Sharqiyah in the province’s countryside earlier in the morning.

The Israeli force comprised two tanks, seven military vehicles, and a bulldozer, advancing along the road leading to the al-Saqari checkpoint between the towns of Jaba and Khan Arnabeh before moving toward the road connecting to the al-Salam Highway.

The incursion came just one day after Israeli occupation forces installed an iron gate inside al-Samdaniyah al-Gharbiya village, effectively creating a permanent checkpoint within the area. Residents expressed outrage, condemning the move as yet another violation of Syrian sovereignty.

Expanded incursions

Israeli occupation forces carried out simultaneous incursions into southern Syria’s Quneitra countryside, violating Syrian sovereignty and the separation of forces arrangements in the demilitarized zone, the SOHR reported on October 28.

According to the SOHR, one Israeli force advanced into a barracks belonging to an artillery company of the 90th Brigade in the village of al‑Kum, Quneitra countryside. Within the facility, Israeli troops conducted search operations before withdrawing toward the al-Salam Highway.

During the operation, occupation forces also deployed a mobile checkpoint along the al-Kum–Khan Arnabah road, stopping and searching civilians. No detentions of Syrian civilians were made at the time.

Another Israeli force, comprised of four tanks and several transport vehicles, moved out of the al‑Hamidiya base toward the village of Ofaniya in the northern Quneitra countryside, coinciding with unmanned aerial‐vehicle activity in the area.

Transitional authorities in Damascus held extensive talks with Israeli officials in an attempt to reach a security agreement. Tel Aviv continues to demand the demilitarization of the entire Syrian south, citing alleged security concerns, though current authorities have yet to respond militarily to dozens of strikes, including ones that targeted the Syrian General Staff Command and Defense Ministry buildings twice, as well as the presidential palace.